Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1887-12-10
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The jailer advanced to the middle Of the
room, and kneeling down, took a large
key from his pocket, and applying it to a
hole in the floor gave it a turn and then
with q great effort raised a ponderous trap
door right at my feet. A rush Of hot air,
and a sitting stencil as from the mouth of
the pit, smote me in the face and I in
voluntarily recoiled backward; but the
bayonets Of the guard were behind and
there was no escape. The ladder was ther
thrust down, and, long as it was, it no
more han penetrated the great depth.
The wretches whose voices I could hear
~confusedly murmuring below were ordered
to stand from under, and I was compelled
to descend into what seemed more like the
Internal regions than any place on earth.
1t was hard to find the steps of the ladder
for the candle Of the jailer gave almost
no light. and l had on handouts; but I
went down, feeling for each step, to a
depth OF some thirteen feet. stepped off
the ladder, treading on human beings 1
could not discern, and wedged in as best l
might. Then the ladder was slowly drawn
up, and in a moment more the trap fell
with a dull and heavy sound that seemed
crushing down on my heart, and every
ray of light vanished. l was shut into a
living tomb-buried alive,
I could feel men around me and hear
their breathing in the darkness, so that l
knew the den was crowded full. Though
1t was night and cool outside, the heat here
was more than that of a tropic noon, and
the perspiration soon oozed from every
pore. The feted air and the stencil made
me for a time deadly sick, and, worst of all,
there was an almost unbearable sense of
suffocation. l wondered if 1t could be
possible that they would leave human be-
ings in such a place till death came in this
horrible form-death, which could not be
long delayed. l Thoughts of the Black
Hole OF Calcutta, where so many English
men were sutfocated i'll one terrible night
by n savage East Indian; l had heard of
negroes being burned alive or whipped to
death in Il " south; but these horrors
were always, l supposed, meant "a ven
seance for some iienlish outrage. Yet of
all the forms of death, that by SLOW sufo-
cation had always appeared most dreadful,
and this now seemed imminent.
AS had been brought to this place in
the dark, | knew nothing of its character,
n after the first moment OF stupcfaction,
resolved to explore its size and nature.
No one Of my companions had yet spoken
to me or I to them. Whether they were
black or white, soldiers or citizens, chained
like myself, or with the free use of their
hands, l could not tell, and 1 scarcely
liked to ask, lest the answer should add
new misery. Ijambed my way through
the living thronE to the wall md felt
along it to learn ii there was door or win
dow. There was no door, the only en-
trance to the fearful place being by tho
trap door down which I came. Neither
were there any windows, but l found two
holes in the wall, opposite each other,
each little more than a foot square, and
filed with three rows of iron bars. The
walls, as could be told ut the holes, were
very thick, being made of an inner case of
oak logs and a brick wall outside. Even
in day time, these holes gave little light,
for one was close under the outside stair
way already described, and the other be-
low the level of the ground. Yet u little
air could come through the thick set bars,
and served to revive me-making it pos
sible to endure life here for Il short time.
When the first shock had passed and I
became partially Injured to the terrible
oppression Of the atmosphere, I tried to
ascertain something of the condition Of
my companions. The most fearful de.
scription Of this place Of torment that can
be given IL contained in the plain cold
ngures-the number OF the prisoners and
the size and manner Of their lodging. Be-
fore l entered there were fourteen white
men and one negro. This evening the
number was increased TO nineteen and
soon after to twenty-five. at which point
it remained for many days. The room
was just thirteen feet square, and about
the same in height. These numbers are
not approximations, but nrc meant to b.
accepted exactly and literally. The entire
furniture of the room consisted of four
buckets for water and Stops! And here
twenty-five men had to rcmain day and
night, with no respite, and no power to
leave the room for any purpose. for more
than two weeks! 1t was possible, as will
be seen by reference to the accompanying
sketch, for all to lie down at once: but it
y required the incest fitting md no small
degree OF crowding. There were two
rows Of ten persons each, occupying the
space Of thirteen feet, and two persons
could rest between the feet of the rows.
But when one turned, all in his row were
obliged to turn likewise; and as all were
chained in some manner, the crowding,
the ordinations, aud the clankfng Of
chains in the black darkness OF this dun
geon presented-especially ut night-as
good u representation Of the realms Of the
lost as has ever been known.